BIRDS-OF-A-FEATHER WORKSHOP SESSIONS In addition to the numerous ad hoc meetings on subjects of mutual interest which occurred more-or-less spontaneously throughout the Conference, we had the following sessions which were formally organized and for which reports are available.
"Undergraduate Organic Chemistry-What Stays In and W h a t Goes Out?" Prepared by H. Meislich, CUNY-City
College
There were about forty people in attendance representing large universities, small colleges, and 2-year colleges. It was agreed that the textbooks being published today have too much material to be covered in a standard one year course. More new material is being added with little being deleted. They agreed that the topics listed to he dropped by M. C. Caserio in her talk earlier in the day had been dropped a t least twenty years ago. Theseincluded 1)
2) 3) 4) 5)
the separatiun of aliphatic and aromatic functionality, i.e., discussing aliphatic and anmatie carboxylic acids in separate chapters emphasis on polyfunctionality, i.e., a separate chapter on hydrovy acids dyes and natural products structure and physical properties polymerization
Among these topics it was felt that polymers should be reemphasized because of their importance in industry.
In order to organize the discussion of where deletions of subject matter could he made the followina broad areas were delineated. Comments are given about eaEh 1) Bondin8 and S t r u r l u r ~(Hybridization.*-bond delocalizalion. resonance, MO, Isomerism, stereoisomerism and conlormation.) n-bond delncalization and resonance are two approaches to the same structural pmhlem. Maybe resonance, the more artificial theory, could he displaced. MO theory should be minimized and orbital symmetry should nut be included. 2) Reactions (Functionality). There should he more selectivity in the reactions studied. It is more important to discussgmera1 types of reactions rather than a large number of individual examples. For example, cut back on reactions of carbond eumoounds. ;I! S l r h ~ r wund kvucr!! , I , ~ . % ~ I m n ! ~ \VvahmiId rn~~ he mme 4crtivr in rnr.ch,anisms tnuaht. Select t h e \cry h.wc m r c . cxam1,lc. S X L ,S\I. E,.dnm.atic iuha~ilut.un,inti c i ~ r h ~ w ~ m condensations,
Volume 56. Number 1. January 1979 / 17
4) Synthesis. Cut back on multistep synthesis especially in aro-
matic chemistry. Delete more exotic syntheses, e.g., Reformatsky. Is it necessary to teach both diazotization and thallation in aromatic synthesis? 5) Spectroscopy. We should limit discussion to ir and nmr. Delete uv and mass spec and esr. 6) "Wet"Chemica1 Analysis. Since spectrmeopy is so important and useful in structure proof, wet methods-some of which don't work too well-could be omitted. These include Hinsherg, Lucas, Tollen's, haloform, and ozonolysis. Agreement among the group was almost unanimous. 7) Nomenclature. Stress the basic IUPAC method without the nuances. Other usages should be deemphasized, e.g., "phenone method" for aromatic ketones. 8) Biochemistry. Sugars and amino acids should he discussed. Biochemical examples could be used throughout the course. However, time should not be devoted to biochemistry per se.
Several professors said they handle the large textbooks by giving students fairly detailed limited learning objectives for each chapter. It was pointed o u t t h a t this approach might stifle t h e very good student. However, these students would be accommodated by a third semester course andlor by a senior laboratory research project. T h e lahoratory-especially in schools where i t is a separate course--could he better used t o teach subject matter and not just techniques.
Since manv schools use the ACS Oreanic examinations these exams o"ften set the standards for wKat has to be taught. T h e committee has the responsibility t o ensure t h a t its standards are realistic for the majority of the students insrganic chemistrv. T h e exams are usuallv seared t o the chemistrv majors. y e t a t least 80% of the stud&& in most schools are n i t chemistry majors. The exams are criticized for this reason. An example of a question that should not b e included deals with orbital symmetry and pericyclic reactions.
High School Chemistry Teachers Prepared by D. A. Halsted, Evanston Township High School-East, Two 8:00a.m. meetings of teachers interested in high school chemistry teaching were held. Ten teachers met on July 26. Twenty-eight teachers attended the July 27 meeting. T h e six major topics considered on the two days are summarized here. 1) There was a discussion of tvDes of chemistrv courses taught in the high schools represented. Some of the i978 high school chemistry texts which have been written to serve t h e needs of medium and low-medium ability students were available for examination. In order t o provide chemical education for more students, there appears to br u trend toward the creationof high school rhemistn, coumes whirh have fewer physical chemistry topics and place less emphasis on mathematical complexity. 2) There was distribution of directions for student exoeriments in which leaves are electroplated. These were d;veloned bv Flovd Sturtevant. Ames Senior Hieh School. Ames. 16wa 56010.~ 3) Copies of the "Rationale for a High School Chemistry Teachers Committee and Division of Chemical Education Sponsorship" were presented t o the group and discussed by Patricia J. Smith, Air Academy High School, USAF Academy, Colorado 80840. T h e details of the rationale follow. There have been several recent efforts of the ACS (creation of the High School Office within the Department of Educational Activities) and the Division (a broadened high school section for the Journal) to reach out to high schwl teachers to serve them better. The following position statements are the basis far Division involvement in this effort: 1) The Division, with the cooperation and support of the ACS, should assume maior resnonsibilitv for orovidine hieh school chemistrv in the , teachers with'access to andoartici&i& .~ . mainstram u i ACS chemical rdurnlim artivitics. 21 Reiponsihle wmmitmmt t
